Multiple hull extractor



Allg. 4., 1936. J 1 WALLACE 2,049,933

MULTIPLE HULL EXTRAGTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 20, 1934 fill Jefey J. Wai/a@ Aug' 4, 1936 J. J. WALLACE 2,049,933

' MULTIPLE HULL EXTRACTOR v Y Filed Aug. 20, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 T17. 5'. f 6o mum r l .l

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f5 gmc/vwo@ L/vfey J Ml/lace Patented Aug. 4, 1936 entren stares MULTIPLE HULL EXTRACTOR Jeffrey John Wallace,

Gullett Gin Company, Amite,

tion of Louisiana Application August 20,

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to machines for separating hulls from cotton, and more particularly to hull extracting cleaning feeders of this type.

The general object of the invention is the improvement of cotton hullers by employing multiple extraction instrumentalities in association with a single saw cylinder, thus minimizing the size of the complete machine and at the same time increasing its eiiiciency.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel cleaning drum for effecting the distribution of the cotton in a uniform layer or eece widtl'lwise of the drum and constructed so as to constitute a fan for creating a draft of air contra to the direction of travel'of the incoming cotton whereby to aerate and loosen the cotton relative to the hulls and hull debris.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a distributing system within the machine so that a thin uniform flow is maintained and presented to the saw cylinder, thus preventing the incoming mass from forming a bulky semi-solid body from which the hulls cannot be readily removed.

A further object of the invention is to provide screening surfaces at strategic points for removing sand, leaf trash and other foreign matter from the cotton.

Another object of the invention is to provide for multiple presentation of the hulls to the lower side of the saw cylinder in the hull discharge outlet for removing the small locks of cotton which generally are adherent to or intermingled with the hulls.

A further object of the invention is the positioning of the stripper cylinder or cylinders inv relation to the saw so that each stripper returns the surplus cotton removed from the saw cylinder separately to the respective cleaning drums to be returned to the incoming stream of cotton to be 11e-distributed and re-presented to the saw cylinder.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of doffer in which rubber strips or vanes are substituted for the customary bristles and with advantageous results both as to the removal of the cotton and the longevity of the doifer.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of feeding means operated directly from the saw cylinder with means for regulating the capacity of' the feeding means to correspond to the demands of the saw cylinder.

Other objects of the invention will appear as Amite, La., assignor to La., a corpora-` 1934, Serial No. 740,712V

the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings which accompany and form a part of the following specication and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to designate identical parts:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through the hulling machine in a plane perpendicular to the axes of the rotating parts;

Figure 2 is a view-in elevation of the end of the machine nearest the observer; p

Figure 3 is a similar view showing that end of the machine remote from the observer;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the cleaning rolls, part being omitted;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the doffer, part being broken away;

Figure (ir is a cross section through one of the strippers;

20. Figure 7 is a perspective vieW of one of the Ystripper blades; and l Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in section taken along the line 8-8 of Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to the several figures it will be understood that the machine comprises a casing l having opposite end walls 2 and 3. The raw cotton vtogether with the bolls and such other debris as may be entrained with it is admitted through a suitable opening 4 at the top of the casing. There are two exits, one for the cotton and the otherY for the hulls. The former designatedby th-e reference character 5 is for the discharge of clean cotton and is at the distal end of a system of cooperating rotating members as will in due course be described. The exit 5 is provided with a discharge chute 6 which may be angularly adjusted by means of a pin, not shown, selectively cooperating withV any one of the indents 1. The chute as shown is pivoted at 8, but this is an immaterial detail.

The hul1s,; sand and other debris are discharged by means of a screw conveyor 9 at the bottom of the casing.

Within the casing, and mounted on parallel shafts are a pair of cooperating feedrollers IU and ll with a space between them to allow ingress of' the cotton. The arrows show that these rollers rotate in opposite directions. A primary cleaning drum lf2 is positioned at a lower level than the feed rollers, and by preference, sym-V metrical with respect to the space between said rollers. A secondary cleaning drum I3 is rotated to one side of the primary cleaning drum l2 and at a distance therefrom. Suitably shaped partitions I4 and I5 are placed adjacent the cleaning drums so as to determine that said drums shall act in serial order upon the incoming stream of cotton. The cotton descends upon the cleaning drum I2, is whisked through the space between said drum and the partition I4, and then upward through the space between said drum and the partition I5 and thrown over upon the drum I3. That part of the side wall of the casing adjacent the cleaning drum I3 is formed as a hingedly mounted conduit I6 having inner and outer walls Il and I8, respectively. The upper part of the inner wall I 'I is formed as a screen I9 and preferably made of perforated sheet metal. When the hinged conduit is in the closed position relative to the casing, itsY lower open end 20 discharges into said casing. The incoming cotton after having passed the cleaning drum I2 in the manner described, and having beenfthrown upon the cleaning drum I3, is carried by said drum through the passage between the drum I3 and the screen I9. The incoming material is scoured against the screen I9, the sand and small trash being thrown oil by centrifugal force through the screen I9. The solid wall II or apron below said partition prevents the foreign material that has been thus removed bythe cleaner drum I3 from re-entering the stream of cotton that is within the machine.

The cleaning drum I3 has a triple function, first, to receive the cotton from the partition I5 and present the same to the screen I9; second, to pitch the incoming material downward on to the saw cylinder 2I and impinge the same on the saw teeth of said Vcylinder or their equivalent; third, to receive the surplus of cotton and hulls which are stripped from the saw cylinder, as will appear.

The location and function of the cleaning drum I3 is an important feature of the invention as well as the relative length of the screen I9. Said length is such that a line perpendicular to a radius of the cleaning drum I3 extending in the direction of the lower edge of the screen I9 shall strike the saw cylinder at approximately from 20 to 30 degrees above the horizontal diametrical plane of said saw cylinder and above the hull outlet and by-pass valve 26 which is located adjacent the mouth of the hinged conduit I6.

The importance of this particular construction is that due to centrifugal force of the cleaning drum I3, the heavier particles and harder substances in the cotton will be carried on the side next to the screen or on the outside of the stream of material being carried by said cleaning drum. This heavier and harder substance will follow downward along the imperforate inner wall I 1 and fall through the opening 2l between the bypass valve 26 and the saw cylinder. The size of said opening is regulated by the position of the valve 26, which valve is regulated from the outside of the machine by means of the reciprocable handle bar 28 pivotally connected to a crank 29 fixed to the shaft 30 of said by-pass valve. When the valve 26 is in its fully opened position indicated by the broken lines, the heavier material At this point, the description will revert to the structure of the feeding rollers Ill and II and the cleaning drums I2 and I3. The feeding rollers are preferably triangular in shape as shown, each being formed of three plates of V-shaped cross section, the apices of said plates extending longitudinally for the entire length of the rollers. The ends of the plates are bent up angularly into flanges 22 which are bolted together. Thus the surfaces of the feeding rollers are formed. alterl nately of longitudinal dihedral angles and longitudinal anges which inter-gear themselves with the incoming cotton and feed it in a positive manner to the interior of the machine.

Each of the cleaning drums is preferably formed l of a plurality of angularly bent plates 23 having radially extending abutting flanges 263 by means of which the several plates constituting the drum are secured together. On those faces of the drum which alternate with the faces having the 2 flanges, are a series or" pins 25. The flanges act as fan vanes to create a draft of air to aerateY the incoming cotton, and the pins have the function of a comb, to maintain uniform distribution of the cotton from the incoming stream of cot- 2 ton.

The saw cylinder 2| is of conventional construction, being formed either of disks 32 of card clothing, separated by spacing segments 33, or it may be constructed of Vordinary channel type, 3 if desired.

The cotton projected upon the saw cylinder from the cleaning drum I3 is carried circumferentially upon the surface of said saw cylinder in the direction of the arrow 34, being added to by 3 the hull cleaning drums 35 and 3@ and subtracted from by the stripper rolls Si' and 323. The clean cotton reaches the iinal side of the saw cylinder 2l where it is removed by the doifer 39 and delivered by the doffer to the final cleaning drum which is similar in construction to the cleaning drums I2 and I3, previously described. The doffer and. the cleaning drum til, respectively, scour the cotton against a screen LII by centrifugal force, ridding it of the nal traces of foreign substance. The cotton is iinally discharged through the chute 6.

Now, referring to the stripper rolls 31 and 38, they are provided with plates 32. The incoming stream of cotton and hulls thrown downward upon the saw cylinder by the cleaning drum i3 is carried upward by the saw cylinder into contact with said plates. The stripper rolls knock back the surplus cotton and hulls. The distance betwe-en the edges of the stripper plates and the teeth or iilaments of the saw cylinder being in close proximity to each other, the greater portion of the hulls is removed from the cotton at this point. The stripper roll 38 strips off such hulls as may have been carried past the stripper 6 roll 3l.Y The stripper rolls 3l and 35 are so located that the cotton and remaining hulls which they knock ofi of the saw cylinder 2l are thrown upward on the opposite sides of the partition I5, engaging in the stream of incoming cotton, pass- 6 ing from the cleaning drum. I2 to the cleaning drum I 3, being again re-distributed and subjected again to the entire process of cleaning and separating.

The hull cleaning drums 35 and 3G are located 7 in the hull chamber 3l beneath the saw cylinder 2 I, and are preferably provided with rows of curved spikes i3. The hull cleaning drum 35 receives the material, mostly hulls, but with small locks of cotton adherent thereto, coming through 7 the opening 21 between the by-.pass valve V26A and the saw cylinder. The lowerwall ofthe chamber 3| is constituted by a hinged hull conduit/43, fthe inner wall of which is a `screen 44 preferably shaped with depressions forming pockets which partially surround the hull cleaning drums 3,5 and 36. The direction of lrotation of the .drum is opposite to .that of the-saw cylinder Z'I'fso that the material impngng upon the drum 35 is scoured against the screen 44, the centrifugal action of the. drum 35 .forcing the heavier material and hulls downward on this. screen .and removingthe smaller particles of trash through this screen. The hulls being harder, will rebound further from the impact of the spikes than the cotton which is soft and spong-y, the hulls being kicked into the pocket of the screen 44 which partially surrounds the drum 36 while the Asoft spongy material is irnpinged upon the `saw cylinder 2l and carried around upon said saw cylinder.

Thehulls and a small amount of one seed cotton locks which have been shot into operative relation to the hull cleaning drum 35 are given a final scouring against the adjacent portion of the screen 44. The foreign matter which has passed through Athe screen 44 descends by gravity through the hinged conduit 4.3v and enters `the chamber of the conveyor 9..

The function of the drum 36 is approximately the same as that of the drum 35 excepting that due to the shape of the screen pocket beneath and which partially surrounds this drum, the entire mass moved by said drum isv thrown up- -ward against the saw cylinder 2l. The harder and heavier substances such as hulls, will not adhere to the saw cylinder and fall off into the may be rubber, is more adherent with respect to the cotton than metal would be, and the .removal of the cotton is thus more eiiicient. The screen 4I against which the cotton is. scoured by the doifer and the final cleaning drum 4I) constitutes the inner wall of a hinged conduit 4.6 and the debris which passes through the screen 4I gravitates down the outer wall of the conduit 46 into the chamber of the conveyor 9.

It is obvious from the above description that all three of the screened conduits I6, 453 and 45 can be swung to open position, giving accessi to the interior mechanism of the machine, and particularly to the screens I9, 44 and 4I so that fthe latter can be readily cleaned.

The several rotating members which have been described are mounted upon parallel shafts journalled in the opposite end Walls of the casing. Power is delivered to the machine by means of a pulley 4'I on the end o-f the shaft 48 of' the cleaning drum I2. The opposite end of said shaft carries a pulley 49 engaged by a belt 5I) which follows a sinuous course about various pulleys which it is unnecessary specifically to mention on the ends of the shafts by which the several rotary members are driven, with two exceptions. The pulley 5I about which the belt 59 passes is merely an idler provided for the V purpose of bringing the 'belt about a large arcuate portion of the power pulley 49. Figure 8 shows that the idler pulley 5I is journalled upon a stud bolt 52 on the end of the shaft 53 which carries the feed roller I6. Consequently,- the said feed roller is relieved from the continuous holding pawl 62.

, stripper roll 3'?.

drive of the belt. The two said rollers III and II are operatively connected by means of gears 54 and 5,5 fixed respectively on the shafts 53 and 5,6. On the opposite end of the shaft 5B is a ratchet gear 51. This gear is intermittently actuated and consequently, the rotation of the feed rollers is intermittent. Step by step movement is imparted to the ratchet gear 5l bymeans of a pawl device constituting a rod 5B swinging about ra fulcrum 59, and on said rod and oscillatable therewith is an arcuate support E0 pivotally carrying at one end, the advancing pawl 6I and pivotally carrying at the other end, the In that form of the invention disclosed by way of illustration, the holding pawl is kept in contact with the teeth of the ratchet gear by a weight 63. The advancing pawl is also mounted in an unbalanced manner so as to be held against the ratchet gear by gravity. As the rod 58 oscillates, `the pawl 5I is rst dragged down over the sloping surfaces of the ratchet teeth and then pushed in a contra direction against the abrupt faces of said teeth,` imparting' a partial rotation to the ratchet gear. Oscillatory movement is transmitted to the rod 58 by means of a connecting rod 54 pivotally connected at one end to a sleeve 55 which slides on said oscillating rod, and rigidly connected at its opposite end to an eccentric 66 on the end of the shaft El of the saw cylinder. Thus, as the saw cylinder rotates, ythe feeding rollers revolve,

step by step.

In the event that the operation of the feed rollers must be Vadjusted tosuit the capacity of the saw cylinder to dispose of the cotton, a han- `dle 68 is provided which may be moved up and down along the rod 58, carrying with it the sleeve S5. 'When the sleeve is near the fulcrum 58, the amplitude of travel of the pawl is greater than when the sleeve is remote from said ful- Crum. f

'I'he sawl cylinder 2| is preferably driven by a gear 69 on the opposite end of the shaft 6'! to that on which the eccentric is mounted. The gear `69 is in mesh with a small gear IIJ at one end of a shaft 'H which is driven from the common belt 5E through a pulley 12.

In operation, the raw cotton including the bolls or hulls is fed to the inlet v4, the triangular sides of the feed rollers I and II acting as the sides of a hopper. The rate of feeding of the cotton from the rollers into the machine is manually regulated by sliding the handle 58 in one or the other direction along the rod 58 which oscillates `the feeding ratchet. The entering cotton is delivered upon the cotton cleaning drum I2 where it is combed out into a wide at sheet by the rows of pins 25. The cotton is kept loose and free by a draft created by the iianges 24 through the rotation of the cleaning drums. 'Ihe sheet of cotton is carried downv along the partition I4 and'up along the partition l5, receiving the accretion of surplus cotton from the stripper roll 38' which is located in the space between the two partitions. The sheet of cotton then proceeds to the cotton cleaning rdrum I3 receiving the accretion of' return cotton from the kThe sheet of fleece of cotton is whirled around the cleaning drum I3 into contact with the'perforated wall VISI ofthe conduit I5 where as has been previously stated, the sand and small trash is thrown through to the said conduit. Said sand and small trash falls through the conduit I5 entirely segregated from the cotton and hull streams, and gravitates upon the anterior part ofthe screen 44, passing through said screen into the conduit 43, and into the hull discharge conveyor 9.r Such sand and small trash as does not go through the screen 44 by gravity is driven through it by the action ofthe spikes 'I3 on the hull cleaning drums 35 and 36.

The cotton and hulls which, as stated, have been whirled past the perforated screen I9 separate centrifugally through their difference in weight, the uffy and lighter cotton shooting down along the line a upon the saw cylinder 32 impinging upon the teeth or filaments thereof. The hulls being heavier, are thrown out against the partition Il and travel down close to said partition until they strike the valve 26. The position of the valve is adjusted according to the volume of descending hulls to bring them into proper proximity to the cleaning drum to permit the latter Y to remove as much as possible ofthe adherent cotton. The hulls then drop upon the rst or anterior of the hull cleaning drums 35. The arrow in Figure 1 denotes the direction of rotation of this drum, the hulls being dashed against the screen 44 where any particles small enough to pass through said screen are thus eliminated and the hulls are crushed or broken so as to free more of the adherent cotton. The rate of rotation of the hull cleaning drum is such that the hull particles are shot across the space betweenV the two hull cleaning drums upon the rearward hull cleaning drum 35. The entire mass receivedby the hull cleaning drum 36 is carried around by said drum and thrown centrifugally aga-inst the saw cylinder where the lint catches inthe teeth f the saw cylinder while the hulls rebound from said saw cylinder into the underlying hull discharge conveyor 9.

Meanwhile, the saw cylinder, rotating in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure l, has accumulated a peripheral layer ef cotton received directly from the cotton cleaning drum I3 and having been added to by the hull cleaning drums 35 and 3S. To prevent this layer of cotton from becoming so thick that it will be compacted as a semi-solid mass upon the surface of the saw cylinder, the stripper rolls 3l and 38 are provided. The roll 38 is at a slightly closer distance to the surface of the saw cylinder than the stripper roll 31. Thus excess layers of cotton are removedsuccessively by the stripper rolls 31 and 38 and returned as has been described Vto the respective cotton cleaning drums i3 and I2. Thus, when the saw cylinder reaches the doffer 39, it has just the right thickness of cotton upon it' to be removed by said doffer. The latter element has flexible blades preferably of rubber which wipe the cotton from the teeth or filaments of the saw cylinder in the directionV indicated by the arrow in Figure l, the cotton being brought forcibly against the screen 4i centrifugally through the rotation of the doffer. Here, any adherent particles are expelled through the screen 4l into the conduit 45 from which they gravitate into the discharge conveyor. The doffer delivers the cotton to the final cleaning drum 4l! where it is combed and fanned and discharged through the chute I2, any .remaining debris passing through that part of the screen 4! which underlies the cleaning drum 45.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the details of construction as shown and described are merely by way of example, and not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as claimed;

What I claim is:

1. Cotton huller comprising a single saw cylinder, feeding means, a pair of cotton cleaning drums arranged serially between said feeding means and saw cylinder, and a pair of stripper rolls arranged adjacent said saw cylinder, independently taking excess cotton therefrom and delivering it to respective cotton cleaning drums, the latter having means for entraining the returned cotton with the incoming cotton stream.

2. Cotton huller comprising a single saw cylinder, feeding means, a pair of cotton cleaning/fvv drums arranged serially between said feeding means and said saw cylinder, a pair of stripper rolls arranged adjacent said saw cylinder, independently taking excess cotton therefrom, a partition shaped to cooperate with said stripper rolls and said cotton cleaning drums whereby the cottonV removed by said stripper rolls from said saw cylinder is directed toward respective cotton 2O cleaning drums, the latter having means'for entrainingthe returned cotton with the incoming cotton stream.

3. Cotton huller comprising a casing having a cotton inlet, al cotton discharge and a hull discharge, means establishing a cotton traversing route and a .hull traversing route, said routes leading respectively to the cotton discharge and the hull discharge, the hull traversing route branching from the cotton traversing route, said means including a rotatable cleaning drum and a cooperating wall, said wall curving relative to said cleaning drum in spaced relation thereto, forming a cotton and hull passage, and having an apron extending downward from said curved portion determining the path of descent of hulls thrown centrifugally against said wall by said cleaning drum, said apron diverging from the trajectory of the cotton thrown oif by said cleaning drum, a saw cylinder positioned so as to intersect the trajectory of the path of the cotton, but out of the hull path determined by said apron, said cooperating wall and cleaning drum thus determining the point of departure of said hull traversing route from said cotton traversing route, said casing including a conduit of which said wall forms the inner side, having an open lower end, the curved portion of said wall being formed with perforations letting sand and small trash into said conduit, said casing including also a Vscreen beneath said saw cylinder in the path of sand and small trash descending from said conduit and anterior and posterior hull cleaning drums between'said screen and saw cylinder in said hull traversing route, said screen being formed with two flights, the anterior flight having a forward portion curving around the anterior hull cleaning drum, and a rear portion parallel Vto a line tangent to said anterior hull cleaning drum and directed toward the posterior hull cleaning drum, whereby heavier particles are thrown into engagement with said posterior hull cleaning drum, saidanterior hull cleaning drum functioning to force debris through said screen and to throw the cotton released from the hulls into contact with said saw cylinder.

4. Cotton huller comprising a casingY having a cotton inlet, `a cotton discharge and a hull discharge, means establishing aV cotton traversing route and a hull traversing route, said routes leading, respectively, to the cotton discharge andthe hull discharge, the hull traversing route branching from the cotton traversing route, said means Vincluding a rotatable cleaning drum and a cooperating wall, said wall curving relative to said clean- 75 ing drum in spaced relation thereto, forming a cotton and hull passage, and having an apron extending downwardly from said curved portion determining the path of descent of hulls thrown centrifugally against said wall by said cleaning drum, said apron diverging from the trajectory of the lpath of the cotton thrown ofi by said cleaning drum, a saw cylinder positioned so as to intersect the trajectory of the path of said cotton, but out of the hull path determined by said apron, said cooperating wall and cleaning drum thus determining the point of departure of said hull traversing route from said cotton traversing route, said casing including a conduit of which said wall forms the inner side, having an open lower end, the curved portion of said wall being formed with perforations letting sand and small trash into said conduit, said casing including also a screen beneath said saw cylinder in the path of sand and small trash descending from said conduit, and anterior and posterior hull cleaning drums between said screen and saw cylinder in saidrhull traversing route, said screen being form'ed with two flights,l the anterior flight having a forward portion curving around the anterior hull cleaning drum and a rear portion substantially parallel to a line tangent to anterior hull cleaning drum and directed toward the posterior hull cleaning drum whereby heavier particles are thrown into engagement with said posterior hull cleaning drum, said anterior hull cleaning drum functioning also to force debris through said screen and to throw the cotton released from said hulls into contact with said saw cylinder, the terminal portion of the second flight lying adjacent the hull discharge and curving upwardly about the lower portion of said posterior hull cleaning drum, the latter functioning to throw the entire mass of cotton and hulls upwardly in contact with said saw cylinder, the teeth on said saw cylinder engaging the loose lint cotton while the hulls rebound oir the saw cylinder and fall into the hull discharge.

JEFFREY `JOHN WALLACE. 

